


Strong

by iridescentwinters



Category: SKAM (Spain)
Genre: F/M, Skam España Season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 14:44:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17184944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iridescentwinters/pseuds/iridescentwinters
Summary: the meet-the-parents session nora had scheduled for alejandro doesn't go quite as planned.....





	Strong

**Author's Note:**

> i promised this fic a month ago skskkssk sorry

_tick, tock. tick, tock._

nora bit down on her bottom lip, tapping her fingers rapidly against the table. her eyes were glued onto the grandfather clock that stood across the dining table, as though looking at it intensely could rewind time.

an hour’s passed since 8.

“sweetie….” her mother started awkwardly, “are you sure he’s coming?”

alejandro was supposed to be at the grace household at 7.

nora unlocked her phone for what it seemed to be the 500th time that same hour. still no notifications from him.

crimson appeared on her cheeks, as she shot her boyfriend another message. “i–i’m not sure anymore.” she admitted, feeling her face go warm. she swallowed the tiny lump that formed in her throat.

she was feeling an array of emotions; but the most obvious ones were embarrassment, and anger.

she looked over at her father, who had a poker face on whilst scrolling through his Facebook feed nonchalantly. but she knew what he was thinking inside. he thought that he was right; that having a boyfriend at this age that you claimed to “love”  would only lead to disappointment.

tonight was supposed to be the night where nora proved him wrong; that her falling in love wasn’t just teenage infatuation, that her relationship wasn’t a big joke.

that confidence she bore at the beginning of the night started to falter after the first half-hour had passed, and there was still no sign of alejandro.

mrs grace looked at her husband, before looking back at her daughter. “i’ll just heat up the food.” she said, getting up from her seat.

nora rubbed her wrists. she felt stupid for feeling the need to break down right there and then, but this dinner she arranged was a big deal to her. all her life her parents. especially her father, disregarded her as just a child (especially after the incident in wisconsin), and she wanted to prove them wrong. that she wasn’t the same fragile girl she was back then.

it was a little after 20 minutes did mr grace look at his watch, and stood up from his seat. “well, that was quite a nice dinner we had.” he said sarcastically. nora’s bottom lip trembled. mr grace was a very busy man, and he never liked wasting time. this whole dinner proved to be a joke, like he expected from the beginning. “i’ll be in my study. call me if he gets here.” he stressed the ‘if’, before walking towards the stairs.

nora squeezed her eyes shut, and set her face down against the table in misery. her mother looked at her sympathetically. “you know you shouldn’t take everything he says to heart.” she chided gently.

yes, because that’s what i want to hear right now, nora wanted to snap, but she knew better. subtly wiping the stupid tear that fell unintentionally, she got up from the table. “i’m gonna be in my room.” she muttered. “he’s probably not coming.”

“don’t you want to eat, then?” mrs grace asked. “i could call your father and–”

“i’m not hungry now.” nora intervened. “you guys can carry on.” the last thing on her mind was her stomach. she lost her appetite anyway.

“nora–”

the girl didn’t bother to hear the rest of her mother’s sentence. and dashed straight up to her room.

 

* * *

 

“nora!”

nora couldn’t remember how she fall asleep (though she suspected it was shortly after her mini crying session), but she jolted awake at the sound of mrs grace’s voice calling for her. “what is it?” she yelled back, rubbing sleep away from her eyes.

“alejandro’s here!”

the sound of alejandro made all of her initial sleepiness wipe right away. o _h my god,_ she thought, rushing towards her mirror, trying to clean up her mascara that was a little smudged. _he came._

her anger also returned. _hours later._

“nora?” her mother called again.

“coming!” she yelled back once more, rushing down the stairs.

and just like her mother said, alejandro was there.

he was dressed in his usual black jeans and shirt and green jacket. her mother held a bouquet of flowers in her hand, presumably from him. a sheepish smile adorned his gorgeous face. “hi.” he simply said, as nora approached him. from the corner of her eye, nora could see her father staring at them, so when he went in for a kiss, she turned her head and he ended up kissing her cheek.

“hi.” she muttered, kissing his cheek in return. alejandro squeezed his eyes shut, already feeling the hostility he was expecting from her.

wiping her hands against her jeans, nora then said, “shall we get to dinner, then?”

“yes!” mrs grace clapped her hands. she led alejandro to the table. he took the seat next to nora and across her father, who was still staring intensely at him.

her first 20 minutes were painfully awkward. the only sounds that were heard was the clinking of cutlery.

mrs grace was the first one to break the silence. “so alejandro,” she started, “what are you doing in college?”

“i’m currently undecided, mam.” alejandro replied truthfully. “i’ve taken a gap year to just figure out if i want to follow my father’s footsteps in business and management, or do something in translation.”

nora could already imagine her father’s thoughts the moment he said undecided. she looked up from her plate, and saw that mr grace was already looking at her, a slight unimpressed look on his face.

nora chose to ignore it. not everyone had to be decided in what they wanted to do right after high school.

“that’s nice.” mrs grace said nicely. the atmosphere did go stereo quiet again, but alejandro broke it shortly after. “so mr grace,” he started, “norita told me you’re a doctor?”

“i am.” mr grace confirmed. “head doctor of my department.”

“that’s nice.” alejandro said with a grin. his fingers found nora’s hand and curling them around it, he gave it a tight squeeze. “nora’s always speaking highly of you. she admires your work a lot.”

mr grace looked over at his daughter. “i was hoping she’d look up to me to the point she would follow my footsteps.” he remarked, tapping his fingers against his wine glass.

nora felt her heart grow heavy. ever since the day she decided that she didn’t want to be a doctor just for the sake of money, her father’s disapproved every single educational decision she’s made then on. she decided on photojournalism; two of her passions combined together. she knew it would be leaping at a risk of not making much money from the beginning, but it was a risk she knew she would regret not taking if she didn’t at least try.

mr grace would never try to look at her in her perspective, and she’s learnt to accept it, but having to hear him say it out loud in front of alejandro made her shrink internally.

“well,” alejandro cleared his throat, “good thing she isn’t, no?” he started. “judging from the way she labelled the pancreas as the stomach in bio, i think the world’s safe without her as a doctor.” he joked.

all the colour drained out of nora’s face, as she watched her mother choke on her food awkwardly because of her contained chuckle, and her father’s eye-rolling. she slipped her hand away from alejandro’s grip.

“i’m done with my food.” she said quietly, picking up her actually empty plate. seeing ale’s plate empty as well, she takes it away too. placing them in the sink and after washing her hands, she looks back at the others. “i think it’s late, and ale lives a little further away.” she said.

ale’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “b–”

“i’ll grab your jacket.” nora intervened hurriedly, and with that, she walked towards the longue, unable to tolerate anymore discomposure.

she could hear muffled sounds coming from the dining room. she wondered what alejandro was saying to her parents.

he came out shortly after, and within minutes, they were outside.

“nora.” alejandro started softly. the girl refused to look at him, only handed him his jacket in one quick motion. “nora, i’m sorry–”

“sorry for what? coming 2 hours late or letting my dad know how much i suck at sciences?” nora snapped, choking up. here we go again.

“i didn’t mean to come that late!” alejandro was quick to be defensive. “i just…” his voice faltered. if he was being completely honest, he had no good excuse as to why he was so late. after staying up till 6 in the morning from the previous day to work on his extended essay, all his energy had drained out and he ended up sleeping for the entire day after failing to stay awake past 5 in the afternoon.

“you just _what_ , ale?” nora yelled. “you knew how important this was to me. i told you how my dad’s like. now not only do i still look like a fool, i also look dumb! thank you for that.” she was raging in sarcasm, but the look on her face told him she was about to cry any moment.

“i’m sorry, okay?” alejandro said, unintentionally raising his voice as well. “i had this essay due today morning and i stayed up all night doing it, and i just fell asleep after that! _Jesus_ , nora.” he said, sounding frustrated. “you’re not the only one with issues around here!”

nora shut her mouth, her lips pressing against each other to form a straight line. alejandro’s hardened face suddenly fell, realising what he said. he took a step forward, but nora took one step back. “nora, i–”

“don’t.” she muttered, her voice crackling. “just don’t.”

“you know i didn’t mean that–”

nora bursted into tears, unable to keep her emotions bottled up anymore. alejandro dropped his helmet, and rushed over to her, wrapping her into his arms. “i am so so sorry.” he whispered into her hair before kissing her head. “i fucked up big time. i knew how important this was to you–”

“you’re right.” nora hiccuped. “i’m selfish and foolish and–”

“hey.” alejandro stopped her right there. he gently raised her chin so that her eyes would meet his. “you are not.” he said firmly. “you are the strongest, most selfless woman i know. you deserve the world, you know that?”

nora sniffled, chuckling a little. “shut up, cliché.” she muttered. alejandro grinned. “a cliché only for you.”

kissing her forehead, he looked serious again. “listen to me, nora.” he started. “nobody can define who you are as a person. not your parents especially.” he tapped her nose. “we aren’t our parents.”

nora wiped away her tears. “you’re right.” she agreed. “it’s high time i try and stop thinking that they’re perfect and everything i do is wrong.” she held her head up high. “fuck perfect.” she then held alejandro’s hand. “it’s you and me against the rest of the world, right?”

alejandro smiled. “always.”


End file.
